A little about lil' ole me...

As a reader of fitness blogs related to women everywhere, I thought to myself..."self, why not do your own? You like to write AND you already teach other people how to be healthy, why not give it a shot".   I was so inspired by cute, southern girls like Mama Laughlin and Skinny Meg that I just couldn't deny myself this opportunity any longer.  I wanted to be one of you girls.  So deep breath, here goes...this is me...HI!

I'm 31, engaged to a WONDERFUL, amazing man and getting married this December. For those of you that don't know me personally, a Christmas wedding has been my dream for OH only most of my life!  I live in Charleston, SC (Conde Nast's numero uno city in the WORLD) and it's like living on a little spot of heaven each day. I'm a software techie by day, but in my off hours, you can find me sweating in the gym, teaching a spin class, or attempting to run.....OR drinking champagne and eating sushi with my best friends.  I have a kitty named Tinkerbell, she is CUTE but oh so bad.  I mean, how can you not love this little kitty face?

I LIVE for college football (87 more days!) THE University of South Carolina Gamecocks are MY TEAM.  Do not mess with me during football season, I tailgate like a pro with my crockpot, face stickers, and cute gameday outfits.  This is me and my other half.  He's so stinking hot, at least in my opinion.

Sounds lovely, right? It mostly all is, I mean life is pretty sweet, but let me clue you in to something.  Four years ago when I started teaching Spinning, I was in the best shape of my life.  I had never really struggled with my weight, nor worried about counting calories. I ran a ton, I loved teaching, and I thought that I could just eat anything because hey, I teach this stuff, I'll still burn it off right? Wrong. Extremely wrong.  I let myself go.  I became a chubby fitness instructor, something I swore I would never do.  And by chubby, I mean fat.

I also fell in love right around September 2010, which meant lots of nights staring into each other's eyes, shoving in pizza, watching football, and drinking craft beer.  Life and love definitely revolved around a big meal for us.  This is the South, that's just the norm around here.  When I ripped a pair of my favorite Sevens one day at home, I just chalked it up to the crotch being worn out (note, they were worn out because my thighs rubbed together.....a little too often....ok a lot).  Several weeks later, I couldn't fit into my size 8 pants and my butt had started to take on a very bubble-like appearance.   My newfound rear end was something my man liked, and I was a little pleasantly surprised with some new "lady curves", so I just ignored the flab.  Bootylicious, like Beyoncé, that's what I kept telling myself.  I kept on eating and teaching, drinking and teaching, and just not caring.  When I started popping out of an old bikini like a busted can of biscuits last summer, I cried all while my sweet man told me that he loved me at any size.  Sigh, what every girl wants to hear....but not what you need to hear.  I continued on in this pattern.  I still taught Spin faithfully twice a week, all the while seeing the way some of my students looked at me.  I knew I had to make a change, but when was always the question.  When would I get back to what I looked like 4 years ago at 27?

Fast forward to January 11th, 2013.  The day that changed my life!   FOREVER! (Please ignore the splotchy/shiny face, this is all after I exploded into tears for about 5 minutes straight.  Took awhile to stop shaking too)

 

My amazing boyfriend popped the question with a beautiful ring, got down on one knee (good job, that was advice from my dad) right in front of where we had our first date.  We laughed, cried, called friends and family and celebrated.  We set a date for December 15th, 2013.  I found an amazing dress and realized for the first time in a long time that not only did I want to look beautiful on that day....I wanted to be in the best shape possible.  So I upped my training regimen by joining a small group fitness training facility through my gym.  It's awesome, and progress is happening, but I want more.  I will always strive for to be better, and this is one area that I will not stop trying.

I've tried it all.  Atkins.  Weight Watchers.  Diet pills (we always want the quick fix, don't we?).  Eating nothing but nuts and salad for 2 weeks just to fit into a pair of pants.  P90X.  Brazil Butt Lift.  I recently went to my doctor to have my thyroid checked.  For the second time.  Thankfully, my doctor is super honest with me and just told me that I have to get serious about it, that I can't just expect to teach fitness and not provide a good example to other people.  Ouch.  AND that if I wanted to try to start planning a family next year, I had to start shedding pounds off my 170 pound, 5'2 frame.  170...that was a big number for me.  I cried.  It was bad.  But it motivated me.  Hearing I was 30 pounds away from 200 was like having your fingernails ripped off in a torture room.  It hurt like a mo-fo...but the honesty was what I needed. 

That was at the end of April.  I'm now down to 163.  WOOT! Do I wish more weight was just melting off like butter on a hot yeast roll?  Absolutely. Am I proud of the fact that I'm doing burpees and lifting weights with dudes right now? Yes.  Do I  want to stick my face in a jar of Nutella some days? Every. Day.  I have no idea what I'm doing, I have no idea how to "blog", but like all parts of my life, I'm just gonna wing it.  I have almost 6 months to go until the big day and all I want to say is I hope that J's (the man's) jaw hits the ground when we have our first look...and then we can arm wrestle later to prove that I've improved my upper body strength. 

Hope you guys enjoy. What a way to start off my Monday!